Fighting childhood cancer, one cup at a time.
by Trish Adkins, ALSF
For as long as she can remember Sabrina Wang, a student at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, wanted to be a scientist. As an undergraduate student, Sabrina received a 2016 Pediatric Oncology Student Training (POST) grant from Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF) to work with Drs. Eric Raabe, Charles Eberhart and Jeffrey Rubens at Johns Hopkins.
Sabrina spent the summer working in the lab, learning and studying... Read More
Childhood cancer survivors like Tony, pictured above, have to be monitored for possible cardiac health side effects due to treatment.
Childhood cancer survivors are 7 times more likely to experience cardiac dysfunction at some point in their lives than other children. Harsh treatments from some types of high-dose chemotherapy and radiation therapy increase their risk of having an irregular heartbeat, weakening the heart muscle and even hardening of the arteries.
This is one of the many reasons why childhood cancer research is so important—cures should not come at the cost of heart health.
The good news: researchers are working every day to finder safer treatments... Read More
When Sophia (above) was just 4 years old, she had to have an 8-hour surgery to remove a tumor on her kidney, followed by 18 months of chemotherapy and radiation. Sophia had Wilms’ tumor, the most common kidney cancer in children.
The first signs of Wilms’ tumor—a painless swelling in the abdomen, blood in the urine, belly pain, high blood pressure or fevers—often seem to be symptoms of something much less scary. A pediatrician will recommend an abdominal ultrasound and then a diagnosis will be made. Treatment, which typically includes surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, begins. Most children, even those with higher stages of the disease can finish treatment knowing that they will most likely never battle... Read More
